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Description
Celebrity party girl Amanda Feral is back from the dead, and hungrier than ever for a good time. With her zombie gal pal Wendy and vampy gay sidekick Gil, this stone cold fox is dressed to kill, on the prowl, and ready to take a big juicy bite out of Seattle’s supernatural nightlife. But what’s a zombie chick to do when her ‘Mommie Dearest’ gets sick? If you’re Amanda Feral, you can either ignore the wicked old witch – or bury the past by visiting Ethel before she kicks it. Amanda’s not thrilled about the idea of crossing three states just to be criticized. But Wendy, who’s always looking for fresh meat, is up for the adventure. And Gil, who just launched his ‘luxury’ resurrection business, needs to disappear because a pissed-off client is out for his blood. First, they pack their stiletto pumps and plasma into a skeevy rattrap on wheels that used to be a Winnebago. Then, with a little help from a Korean-ghost hood ornament, a masochist named Fishhook, and a slew of ‘moderately accurate’ psychics, they hit the highway – their way. Of course, they’ll have to navigate past some neo-Nazi skinheads, a horny dust devil, a hunky werewolf cop (who could pass for an underwear model) and an unsightly horde of supermarket shoppers. But for this glamorous gang of ghouls this trip is about to take a dangerous detour that could give road kill a brand new meaning.

Review
In this second installment of Mark Henry’s hilarious take on the modern zombie, Amanda Feral, finds herself in a jam. Her mother – whom she loathes (her valid reasons why pepper this book) – is dying. Amanda does not want to go to her bedside, however, her vamp pal Gil’s new business is about to get flushed down the drain – along with Gil – when his star client, well, doesn’t quite get the reception he expected. Gil needs to get out of town quick and Amanda has just the jaunt that could keep him safe.

Amanda, Gil and fellow zombie fashionista Wendy pile into a Winnebago, along with a unique cast of characters, to hide from Gil’s client, visit Amanda’s mother and solve a mystery or two along the way. Oh, and stop for some road side snacking.

Mark Henry’s second foray into Amanda’s twisted existence reveals a lot of her early life, explaining much about background and her behaviours (no, not the eating people part – that’s just zombie biology and Henry describes it quite vividly). As before the laughs are tinge with gore and can be a little vicious, though they are never cruel. If you have even a smidgen of a twisted sense of humor you will chuckle your way through this wickedly bawdy tale. It is crude, lewd, raunchy, and side-splittingly hysterical. (If you are a zombie make sure you have some duct tape around just in case you really do split your side).

Description
Alive, ad exec Amanda Feral worked hard to wring enjoyment out of her days. Now that she’s a zombie, it’s a different story. Turns out, Seattle is home to glamorous undead of every description, and Amanda – stylish and impeccably groomed even in the afterlife – is swigging cocktails and living large (so to speak) among its elite. But there are downsides. Not being able to stomach anything except alcohol and human flesh, for instance. And the fact that someone is targeting Seattle’s otherworldly inhabitants for their own sinister reasons. Preying on the undead is seriously uncool. The only option is for Amanda and her zombie BFF Wendy and gorgeous gay vampire pal Gil to unearth the culprit among the legions of Seattle’s bloodsuckers, shapeshifters, reapers, succubi, and demons – before they all meet a fate a lot worse than death…

Review
This wonderfully irreverent book combines Sex in the City, but for Seattle-ites (Seattlians?), with Night of the Living Dead. Amanda Feral is a successful ad exec, complete with corner office and a hot boyfriend, when she is turned into a zombie. Not one to let a little thing like being undead stop her, Amanda adapts to her new afterlife with style; quickly picking up a cadre of close friends (of the zombie, succubus and vampire variety), learning the necessities of mortuary makeup, hanging at only the in-est of otherworld ‘in crowd’ hot spots, and quickly becoming Seattle’s Supernatural ‘it’ girl.

When one of her gal pals leaves a cryptic message asking for help and then disappears, newbie flesh-eating zombie Amanda is off to the rescue, determined to find out who (or what) is trying to turn Seattle – both the living and the undead sides of it – into a place of true terror.

This is a wildly unique take on the modern fashionista zombie, which will have you both cringing with the gore and laughing uproariously at, well, the gore. Mark Henry has created a heroine who you can admire whether she is spouting snappy, snarky bon mots or chowing down on a guy she picked up in an alley. His world is well-developed, his characters pop off the page and the storyline is twisted, weird and wonderfully original.

Slip into your favorite designer pajamas, pour yourself a vodkatini and do yourself a favour: read this book! This is grisly chick-lit at its finest and will leave you salivating for more. (Of course it will also make you a little nervous about being breathed on in elevators).

You are in luck: Happy Hour Of The Damned has just come out in mass market paperback! Sure you can still pick it up in its original trade size – but why?

One of my fave urban fantasy authors has just relaunched his website and to celebrate he is giving away goodies! Like a signed copy of Happy Hour of the Damned, an ARC of Road Trip of the Damned, with it’s cover flat.

Head over to his site for more info. And while you’re there, wander around a bit: lots of cool and funny stuff to look through.